Men may combat high cholesterol without drugs

A recent study at Iowa State University’s Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) may give men a chance to fight high cholesterol without drugs - if they don’t mind sprinkling some flaxseed into their daily diet.

Research team examined the effects of flaxseed lignan in 90 people diagnosed with high cholesterol. The results showed that consuming at least 150 milligrams of flaxseed lignans per day (about three tablespoons) decreased cholesterol in men by just under 10 percent over the three months that they were given the flaxseed.

While the study found that the flaxseed lignans lowered cholesterol in men, it did not produce a significant change in women.